How does ringing in the New Year while standing under the Eiffel Tower watching fireworks overhead sound? If you choose to study abroad, that could become a reality, along with many other exciting trips around the world.
According to the Open Doors Report on International Education Exchange, over 270,000 United States students studied abroad in the 2009-2010 academic year.
Studying abroad has many benefits beyond getting to see other countries one may not ordinarily have the opportunity to visit.
Kate Emory, the head of the Study Abroad department at Hood College, explains the importance of studying abroad during one’s junior year. By a student’s junior year, he or she probably has declared a major and will be able to plan classes for graduating on time.
Studying abroad during one’s senior year is risky because sometimes a student’s transcript will not transfer over in time for graduation.
Also, sophomores are advised to wait until junior year to go abroad. Because study abroad has the potential to be such a life-changing experience, sophomores are not encouraged to study abroad in case they decide to change their major, causing a delayed graduation.
Emory has studied in the Czech Republic and Kyoto, Japan in an exchange-teaching program, and being in Kyoto “completely changed what I wanted to do,” she says.
Many resources are available for gaining information on going abroad. One website, GoAbroad, has information on studying, interning, volunteering and teaching abroad.
Emory suggests planning a year in advance for study abroad in order to avoid the stress of approaching deadlines.
Junior Stephanie Lax, who is studying abroad in Nice in spring 2013, supports that, saying she got a late start on the application process. “I had a lot of strange hoops to jump through,” she says.
When deciding on studying abroad, many factors need to be considered. StudyAbroad.com has many resources and articles to help answer some of those questions.
Many students choose to only go abroad for one semester. Junior Dominique Osterman, however, chose to study abroad in Munich Germany for the entire school year.
Osterman said that being abroad for one semester was not something she considered. She wanted to take full advantage of the program and not have to leave after only one semester.
Osterman said many students worry about spending time away from friends and family, but says “for me, leaving for Germany felt the same as leaving New Jersey to go to Maryland…I do not believe the ocean-length distance makes any difference in keeping up with those who matter to me; of course, I am looking forward to be being reunited with my Hood ‘fam’ upon returning senior year!”
Also, Osterman does not plan on coming home during her time abroad. By doing this, she will use the money saved from not buying plane tickets to travel about Europe, like “spending Christmas in Wales and New Year’s in Paris.”
Hood College has programs for study abroad set up with many school across the globe, but if a student wants to go to a city where there is not a set program, that is not a problem; that student would have to look for a college in the city where they desire to study at and work on applying to their program.
However, financial situations can be complicated by studying at a school without a Hood-affiliated program: any federal aid that the student has been awarded will carry with them at whatever accredited institution they choose to study at, but any aid awarded from Hood College will not transfer over with a student.
One program that Hood College partners with is Sweet Briar College’s Junior Year in France (JYF), which has programs in Nice and Paris. Senior Rachel O’Keeffe studied in Nice, France during the spring semester.
O’Keeffe says she experienced many unforgettable experiences while abroad that involved traveling around Europe to Greece and Italy. She says that traveling in Europe is extremely expensive but one thing that helped was knowing about resources for students, like discounted train tickets.
O’Keeffe advises someone studying abroad is to keep a journal. “I was told to keep a journal but [did not keep up] with it. Now I have to rely on my memory for all of the experiences.”
Different factors are a part of the study abroad experience that have the potential to have a negative effect on the student.
Culture shock is something that “everyone experiences, whether they realize it or not,” Emory says. She spends a lot of time educating students on the phases of culture shock: honeymoon phase, downer phase when one starts to get homesick, adjustment, contentedness, and finally a high note when one does not want to leave.
Emory suggests techniques to help deal with culture shock and to prevent negatives of it, such as keeping in touch with your family and friends back home.
Study abroad is not something only for American students. The United States is host to a very large number of international students.
The Open Doors report showed that in the 2010-2011 academic year, there were over 720,000 international students studying in America. The study also shows that international students contribute over $21 billion to our economy each year. The three top sending countries are China, India and South Korea.
Fanny Roussel is one of those international students. Roussel, who lives in Lille, France, came to study in Frederick, MD her junior year of high school when she was just 16.
Roussel became less shy, more independent and fluent in English while in America. She says that when she arrived, despite studying English for four years, it took her three to four months until she was able to have a conversation with someone.
American culture is portrayed in a very specific light, and Roussel saw those portrayals, but “it was not exactly the same, of course.” She says what she loved most from TV and movies were the football games and cheerleaders, and those aspects were exactly the same.
“I learned that I was lucky to be able to [study abroad] so if it happened that I can have this chance again I will seize it,” Roussel said.
